A Study In
by Ms. Vampire Gal
Summary: Teens Shelby and Jane meet in a cruel twist of fight and must fight personal demons and misguided loyalty to stay true to them selves. Fem!Sherlock and Fem!John. Pairing determined later.
1. Sisters Part One

It all started with a knock at the door.

Shelby was sat alone in her room reading a book on the Victorian era.

Her brother, Mycroft, was in the kitchen cooking their dinner. He put down the knife he was using to chop the onions and went to answer the door. When he opened the door he was greeted by the couple that had moved into the apartment below the week before. He remembered that they usually left at erratic times.

When Shelby heard unfamiliar voices she rushed down from her window seat to see who was at the door. There were never visitors at their apartment. She recognised the couple - she'd noticed them last week and remembered the way the man had stared at the moving men's butts and also how the woman had been suspiciously texting. She had also noticed that the possessions of a girl the same age as her had been brought into the building, though she hadn't seen said girl yet.

She stood in the doorway that led into the front room; her form was hidden by the bookcase, but she could see the door in the mirror.

"You really don't mind?" the woman asked. She sounded worried, but about what? Was it because her hemline was crooked? Or because she'd realised her husband was gay? That was illogical as she had her arm looped through his. He remained silent by her side. In fact it seemed like he was staring into the apartment, sweeping and searching it with his eyes.

"Of course not! We were just about to have dinner. Send her round and she can join us," Mycroft replied. Who was joining us?

"Us?" the man asked in a deep voice. Shelby stepped backwards and jumped through the doorway to create the illusion that she had just rushed through it rather than stood behind it for a while. The couple jumped at her sudden appearance.

"Sorry, yes, I should have said; this is my sister, Shelby. She lives here with me." Her brother gestured for her to come closer. She stepped lightly towards them, avoiding the stacks of books she had left scattered around the place. While Mycroft continued to smile, Shelby adopted her more bored expression. It was her best disguise. "Shelby, this is Sally and... what was it again?"

"Never mind," was the man's reply.

"They're from downstairs. Their daughter is going to be joining us for dinner." Shelby stared at the couple who smiled back her. She blinked at them before replying.

"Why do you have a gun?" she pointed at the man's hip where a discrete yet misshapen bump protruded. His hands fell upon the bump, confirming to Shelby that it was indeed something dangerous. "Are you going away on a job like my parents?"

The woman looked confused but continued to smile. It was becoming more strained by the second.

"Yes dear, we are. Say, when did your parents leave for their job? Are they doctors or something?"

"No, not doctors, they work for the government and they left seven years ago." Everyone was silent. Shelby continued to blink at them with her bored expression. The couple were staring down at her with their mouths open wide and Mycroft had that pained expression on his face, with his eyes closed, like he often did whenever she spoke.

"Why don't you send Jane up?" He said flatly before closing the door in their face. He turned sharply on to Shelby

"Why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Act like a freak?"

"You said I'm not a freak, I'm just special."

"Your memory is special but your obvious lack in social graces makes you a freak."

"Calling me a freak isn't very polite, Mycroft. What would mother say?"

"_Mother_ isn't here."

"Fine, what would Mrs. Hudson say?"

"She would call _you_ rude!"

"Yes but she wouldn't call me a freak."

_Knock knock knock_

"Our guest is here. Please Shelby, just try to be normal."

"I'll try, but with you as a brother, I'm afraid it's just not in my genes."

Mycroft opened the door and there stood a girl, a little shorter than Shelby, with sky blue cropped hair. She wore a heavy jumper and jeans; a violet laptop was tucked under her left arm and she held a leather satchel in the other. Her face expressed surprise.

This was the infamous first meeting of Shelby and Jane.

It all started with her mother's phone ringing.

Jane was sat in her room reading a Fanfic on her computer and listening to her wide collection of music. The ringtone cut harshly through 'This is war'.

Her mother, Sally, and her uncle... well he'd turned up last week and told them to move, he hadn't actually given a name other than Anderson, were running around collecting items and putting them into their bags. This happened every time her mother's phone rang. They didn't even need to pick it up anymore. They just knew they were needed at the station.

Jane folded up her laptop, ready to leave as well. She was usually taken along to the station as well. She didn't mind, their Wifi was usually better anyway. Today was different though.

"Jane you can't come with us this time," Anderson told her when she asked when they were leaving. "It's dangerous there at the moment."

"Where can she go then?" Sally asked him, not even bothering to acknowledge Jane in the doorway. They stopped for about a millisecond before he came up with a solution and continued with their packing.

"Upstairs. The landlord said there was someone who lived upstairs in apartment B. We'll go up and see if she can stay with them." He said as he tucked his gun into his waistband. Sally looked up at her daughter for the first time.

"Would that be okay baby?" she asked with her straight face. There was no worry, no concern for her own child. For Jane, that was what hurt the most. She nodded and sank into the sofa to wait.

They returned and picked up their bags.

"You're okay to stay up there. There's a man that lives there with his sister, A Mr. Hounds and Shelby." Sally informed her. Anderson exited the door and headed down to the car to get things started. Her mother waited until Jane had followed suit before closing and locking the door to 221a. Sally turned to leave the building and Jane turned to head up the stairs. She tried wasting as much time as possible, so she counted each step as she ascended. In the end it was seventeen to the apartment above. She knocked on the large, red wooden door. It opened a moment later to reveal the occupants:

A tall, dark haired man in his mid-twenties stood in an untucked shirt and chinos and next to him was a girl the same age as Jane and roughly the same height. Her hair was the same colour as her brother and was rather frizzy. She wore a very old yellow sundress despite the fact it was the middle of winter.

Jane's first impression?

_Brilliant!_

Jane found this brother and sister duo very odd. Let's start with the dinner, shall we?

Mr. Hounds (he's said to call him Mycroft, but to Jane, Mr. Hounds was more normal) had cooked a brilliant beef stew with mashed potatoes. He'd laid out the table and they all sat down, it was then that Jane noticed the stack of bread slices by Shelby's plate. They all started to eat and they sat in silence. Jane decided to look over at Shelby to see what she did with the bread. She wished she hadn't. Shelby had taken her fork and used it to mix together the potatoes and the stew into a beige mess of beef chunks, carrots, and gravy. It looked like baby vomit. She then proceeded to shovel it onto the slice of bread and eat the concoction as a sandwich. Mr. Hounds seemed not to have noticed.

"What's with the bread?" She asked Shelby, but they both looked up and Mr. Hounds answered.

"She won't eat anything unless it's in sandwich form." He replied flatly before continuing his meal.

"Why?" This time Shelby was the one to reply.

"I'm calcium deficient and white bread is an excellent source of calcium." She said in the same flat voice, before taking a bite of her sandwich, causing a carrot slice to drop out of the bread and plop onto the plate.

"You were calcium deficient five years ago. You're fine now." Mr. Hounds sighed, his eyes still on his plate. They did not look at each other as their straight faced fight continued.

"I could still be calcium deficient. It could be a genetic condition. It could be Hyperparathyroidism."

"If it was inherited, surely I would have it to. You are most probably deficient due to your lack of vitamin D seeing as you never go outside."

"I go outside for PE every day."

"Watering the plants on your balcony does not count as PE; neither does it count as going outside"

"I'm sorry did I hit a nerve?" Jane asked nervously. She'd been here less than half-an-hour and she had already caused an argument.

"Oh, don't worry," Shelby turned her eyes on Jane for the first time since dinner had started. They were brilliant green. "We always fight. He doesn't approve any of the life choices I make."

The dinner continued in complete silence.

When they had all finished, Mr. Hound handed Shelby something which she promptly swallowed.

"Why don't you two go to Shelby's room and do whatever teenage girls do? I'll clean up" They all stood up and Shelby showed Jane to her room in the back. It was an utter mess.

"This is absolute CHAOS!"

"Yes but it's an organised chaos." She stated as she leaped over a stack of papers which all seemed to have the title 'Problem' "With your inferior mind, I wouldn't expect you to understand" Jane found that hard to believe. She was top of all her classes and was the leader of a scout unit, despite only being seventeen.

At that moment she spotted all three volumes of 'War and Peace' on the bedside table. They had a multitude of coloured post-it notes sticking out of the pages.

"What are those?" Jane asked pointing at the stack of books. Shelby followed her finger. She skipped over to the table, avoiding glass beakers and what looked like a pickled frog in a jar.

"War and Peace. My parents got them for me for my fifth birthday, just before they left." She said as she picked the top one up and stroked the leather front.

"I meant the post-it notes" Shelby snapped her head up sharply to look at Jane. She seemed angry, very angry, but before she could begin to think why, the expression was replaced with the same bored mask she had been wearing for the entire evening.

"Mistakes, missing information, just stuff that bothered me." She put the book down and pranced over to the desk in the corner. On the beige wall were scribbling: equations, workings and small quotes she recognised from books she'd read in school. She made her way to bed and sat down. She picked up one of the books when Shelby had her back turned. The post-it notes were full with things like: 'Doesn't make sense' and 'idiotic'. Before Jane could read further it was snatched out of her hands. Shelby stood above her holding the book tightly to her chest.

"Please don't touch anything" She ordered sternly and through the mask, Jane saw a little anger once again. She stalked off back to her desk, taking all three books with here.

Jane found an electrical outlet and plugged in her computer. She logged into Tumblr (woolly-jumper-girl) and began to scroll through the flurry of text and pictures and GIFs. She didn't turn on her music as Shelby was humming some melody to her and Jane knew it would just annoy her. As she scrolled through the various posts, she failed to notice that Shelby had changed tunes, or later when she had stopped humming altogether. She scrolled down onto to the anti-joke Sherlock post she had seen a million times before on her dash when a hand shot from behind her and pointed to the screen.

"Who's that?" Shelby asked from behind, her finger stabbing at Benedict Cumberbatch's flawless face.

"That's Benedict Cumberbatch; he plays Sherlock Holmes on the TV programme"

"Who's Sherlock Holmes?" She asked innocently. Jane turned round to face, a horrified expression implanted onto her face.

"Who's Sherlock Holmes..?" she echoed in a weak whisper. Granted, she hadn't seen a TV in neither the front room nor the bedroom, so she probably wouldn't have seen the show, but for a girl that read so many books, how had she never come across the beloved Sherlock Holmes.

"Well," she began, not entirely sure of where to actually start "he's a detective. He solves crimes the police can't. He lives with a doctor called John Watson and he helps him solve said crimes." Shelby nodded content with this description.

"Is he smart?"

"Very." They sat quietly, Shelby still staring intently at the computer screen. "Do you want to watch some of the episodes?" Shelby nodded very enthusiastically.

As she pulled up her iTunes library, Jane began to think about Shelby. She was one of those girls that thought she could experience the world through books, that if she knew the theory behind it, she could do it. She was a clever girl that wasn't able to do anything. What was sadder is that her brother seemed to make no effort to change this. No doubt she was bullied at school.

"What school do you go to?"

"I'm homeschooled."

"Your brother teaches you?"

"No, Mrs. Hudson. She comes to the apartment every weekday."

So no bullying then, but she was severely isolated. It didn't seem like she had any friends. Jane felt a little sympathy for her. The episode popped up ready to watch when there was a knock at the door.

"Hey girls, Shelby's not attacked you yet?" Mr. Hounds asked poking his head round the door. He didn't seem to be joking.

"No, but we're going to watch a television programme!" Shelby exclaimed, her face lighting up with a smile and the whole thing exaggerated by a twirl on one foot. _Wait had she just done a perfect pirouette?_ He seemed to be taken back by this display.

"Okay... one thing we don't have a TV..." Jane lifted her laptop to indicate their plans, he nodded.

"Before I go, are you going to be staying Jane?" She usually did spend the night. Better to be safe than sorry, plus she really wanted to show Shelby the wonders of Sherlock.

"I think so, if that's not a problem?"

"Of course not, I'll get the air bed"

Within the space of half an hour, a space had been cleared in Shelby's belongings and there sat the air mattress with a sheet and duvet ready for use. Mr. Hounds had disappeared off to bed and the girls were starting their first episode.

Shelby was surprising quiet throughout the screening of the first season. She would only point out things that the characters got wrong, but she never once interrupted Sherlock.

When they settled down to sleep, Jane began to think about how similar Shelby and Sherlock were: Their impressive knowledge; their keen sight for details. It was strange, plus her brother was called Mycroft! He was a lot younger than Mark Gatiss though and better looking!

Shelby couldn't help but think that out there somewhere, it was possible that there was someone else like her. Someone else who saw what she saw; someone who wouldn't call her a freak, but an equal. As she reached the edge of the abyss that was sleep a thought flashed through her mind: Jane hadn't called her a freak, not yet. Unconsciousness pulled her under before she could properly dwell on this though.


	2. Sisters Part Two

**... Sisters- Part Two**

The next morning, Shelby was the first to wake up. It was a Saturday so Mrs Hudson wasn't coming but Mycroft still had work. It was the best day for her as she could anything she wanted.

Jane was still asleep. 9AM? That's way too early! What kind of crazy person gets up this early on a weekend?

Shelby started to cook her breakfast, a cup of tea, and chopped a cube of cheese off the block in the fridge. She walked over to the big oak bookcase in the corner of the kitchen (there was a bookcase in every room at Shelby's request) and placed it just in front of the gap underneath it. A tiny, furry head poked out of the gap and sniffed the air. When it was sure it was clear it stepped out fully towards the cheese. Shelby picked it up along with the cheese. She held the mouse in one hand and the cheese in the other, letting it nibble at the food.

"There are no signs of poisoning from the hair lotion. He seems to be okay!" she put the mouse down with the cheese and walked back into the front room. From one of the many piles of books, she pulled a leather bound journal and began to write in it. "It looks like Mycroft's hair re-growth serum is going to be a great birthday present." She put the journal back into the pile and went to get washed and changed.

When Jane finally dared to open her eyes at ten thirty, she was met with the sight of Sheila staring down at her with much magnified eyes.

"Shit, what the hell!" she screamed as she bolted upright, flailing her limbs a little as well. Shelby managed to avoid her arms but did get kicked in the shin.

"You have excellent skin, for a teenager."

"What an earth are you-"

"While I was waiting for you to wake up I got bored, so, I decided to look at your skin. It's very exfoliated; hardly any dead skin."

"Thanks" Was Jane's witty reply. For a girl who spent almost her entire day commenting on others stuff, she was fairly rubbish in real life.

"Do you want any breakfast?" Shelby moved out of Jane's way and she stood up.

"Sure, what cereal do you have?" she asked stretching her arms and yawning.

"Umm, we used to have muesli but recently Mycroft started to buy porridge. I think it's to keep warm during the winter months-"

"So you have porridge."

"Yes"

"Okay, I'll have porridge."

"Can't do."

"Why's that?"

"I'm not allowed to use anything in the kitchen that heats stuff up without Mycroft's supervision" It was strange that it was mainly the things Shelby said herself that scared Jane the most.

"What did you have then?"

"A cup of tea."

"Doesn't that require a kettle to heat the water?" Shelby stared at her.

"It does, doesn't it?"

"Yes"

"Since you've already broken you brother's rule, can I have that porridge then?"

"Okay" Shelby rushed out to start cooking the porridge. Jane started towards the door, but realised she was still wearing her crumpled clothes from yesterday. Her jeans were okay, but her jumper had a gravy stain from the day before.

"Do you have a top I can borrow?" she called out of the bedroom. She didn't fancy wearing whatever Shelby considered fashionable, but she didn't have a choice, she had no way to get into her bedroom.

"The purple jumper in my wardrobe." Was all that Shelby said in reply. Jane ventured over to wardrobe and saw the jumper straight away in amongst all the sundresses that wear hung up. She pulled it off the hanger and replaced her dirty one with it. It was a little big for her but if she rolled up the sleeves it was okay. God, she loved jumpers!

She left the bedroom and found the way to the kitchen where Shelby was serving a bowl of porridge. It was plain but it was better than nothing. Shelby simply sat and watched Jane eat. It was a bit creepy but it was expected by this point.

As soon as the last spoonful had been swallowed, Shelby blurted out

"Do you want to go to the library?" She looked so enthusiastic for Jane to come. She remembered how she'd been thinking the night before that Shelby probably didn't have friends. This was a new thing and anything that was new and unknown was exciting to this girl.

"There's a Library in Baskerville?" Jane genuinely wasn't sure. She'd been here one week and was already thinking there was nothing to do. London had always been much better.

Shelby led the way into town. It had been rather cold, but the jumper was warm enough for Jane. Shelby put on a very old trench coat that had holes in the pockets and buttons missing; she still wore a sundress underneath so when they ventured outside, Jane was sure her legs turned blue. She carried a very old canvas backpack as well. As they walked Jane noticed that Shelby twirled the edges of the coat with her hands, so it flew out, every time she went round a corner.

"Why do you do that?" Jane asked as it was starting to get on her nerves.

"My dad's coat used to do it naturally. It made him look like he had wings; like he was about to take flight." She did the pirouette from the night before and her breath froze in a cloud around her head. From where Jane stood it looked like a halo. "We're here!"

From the outside it looked like an old bank or hospital. Above the doorway the words 'St. Bartholomew's Hospital' were etched into the stone arch. This confirmed the idea that it was an old hospital. Inside shelves upon shelves of books lined the large expanse of the hall as well as an upper balcony area which was accessed by the grand staircase on the left-hand side. Doors at the far side of the wall lead off to corridors of meeting and classrooms. The main desk was to their right, at it, a young lady with blonde hair and wide eyes. She was the perfect image of the pretty intellectual.

"Good morning Shelby! Who's your friend?" she was very nice, but she was speaking to Shelby like she was a small child. Even though she had only known her for less than twenty-four hours, Jane found this quite insulting.

"Oh, yes, she's Jane. Jane, Molly Hooper. Molly Hooper, Jane." Jane gave a smile. "Molly, do you have my new books?"

"I do" Molly reached under the desk and hauled up a large cardboard box and placed it on the counter. Jane picked up the box and carried it off to a nearby sofa where she opened it and pulled out the first book and began to read. Jane wandered up to the desk where Molly was watching Shelby.

"Does she get a month's worth of books at a time or something?" she asked, leaning on the counter. Molly looked up at her. She couldn't be much older than the two girls. Twenty? Twenty-one? But she had lines on her face than said she had seen her fair share of life already.

"No, that's a week's reading for her." Jane's mouth dropped open. Molly laughed at her reaction. "I know, it's crazy, but she's a smart girl" She looked back over at the troubled teen. "Always has been..." There was the look in her eye. The look people get when they're remembering a fond memory.

"How many does she read in a month?" Jane knew it would make her feel inadequate but she was curious.

"Twenty-five a month, thirty if there's a school holiday." Jane was impressed. "She's read over two thousand already. She's been coming here for a long time"

"I can't read with you two staring at me." Shelby announced without looking up from the novel. Both of them started to laugh.

"What can I do for you? Do you want to sign up for a library card?" Jane thought about it for a while. She was probably going to be here a while, might as well get one. Molly produced the application form and Jane filled it in. She was given a temporary card to use until her proper was sent out.

"Is there a book you'd like to read now?" Molly asked after filing away the paper. Jane knew just what book she wanted to read.

"Yeah, can you tell me where 'A Study in Scarlett' is?"

The girls spent the day in the library. Shelby managed to get through three books and Jane got halfway through a 'Study in Scarlett'. Shelby stuffed her remaining books into her backpack and Jane took out 'The Sign of the Four' to make sure she had plenty to read.

Back at the house, Mr. Hounds still hadn't returned and so they started on season two of 'Sherlock'. After they had watched 'The Reichenbach Fall', Jane couldn't resist abusing her new friend's intellect.

"So how do you think he faked his own death" she asked as casually as she could. Shelby looked back at her confused. _Oh right! She hasn't read the books or anything._ "He faked his death, you know to stop Morriarty. You find out in the next book." She nodded in understanding.

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it?"

"It is?"

"Oh yes, there was a massive clue left by the writers. I thought it was a slip up but now that you've told me it was staged than it makes much more sense." And with that, Mr. Hounds returned home and insisted that they go get ready for dinner. Jane asked no more.

No one bothered to ask when Jane's mother was coming home. With their lack of visitors, it was very likely that Mycroft and Shelby didn't know that spending two nights at your house wasn't a good sign that they were going to return.

Sunday came and Mycroft decided to finally make some enquiries to where Jane's mother was. While Shelby sat at the table and Jane was still asleep, he picked up the phone and rang the station at which they worked. The news wasn't good. When he put down the phone, Shelby already knew something was wrong.

"Sister, I'm afraid I'm going to have to go out." He told her as he slipped on his coat.

"Is this about Jane's parents?" He couldn't tell her, for her own safety, but he knew if he didn't she would attempt to find out herself.

"Yes, but it's nothing to worry about. I just need to sort out some more long-term arrangements for her." And with that he exited the apartment and Shelby sat at the table waiting for Jane to awake so she could put her plan into action.

Jane was shocked to hear something was up with her mother, well not really, she was a police officer, and she'd got used to the idea that she may not return one night a long time ago. What was shocking was that she hadn't been told.

"I have a plan." Shelby told her.

"What do you mean a plan?"

"We're going to find your mother, just like Sherlock would!" She looked so excited by this, like it was s a game and not a possible fatal idea.

"I don't think that's a good-"

"Come on!" she begged, gripping Jane's hand. "We could snoop around your apartment, gather some clues and then I can prove to Mycroft that I'm not a child." Jane was tempted. It didn't sound like they would be doing anything illegal or dangerous, and she would find out what was up with her mother and Shelby would be finally treated with some respect. She may have only known her a day, but Jane already knew nobody took Shelby seriously. She was just another child genius.

"Okay, but no more ballet" she put a hand on Shelby's shoulder to prevent her doing another excited twirl. Shelby pouted.

"What about my cello?" She nodded at a corner of the room where a cello stood, bow by its side. _Of course, _Jane thought, _like there weren't already enough parallels._

After Shelby's celebratory cello concerto, Shelby began to explain her plan.

"We need to get into your apartment."

"I don't have any keys."

"But it's your apartment."

"Yes but there was only one set of keys and my mum has those." Shelby stood for a while, thinking. She began to hum and pace the room.

"Why do you always hum when you think?"

"Why do you have so many questions?" was her retort. Shelby would always be better at comebacks than Jane.

"I asked first" Shelby sighed, annoyed that she was being interrupted during her thinking time.

"I used to play the cello when I was thinking but it got to difficult to constantly keep setting up, so I hum instead. I used to think about learning the violin but I always found it too fiddly" Jane laughed at the pun but Shelby had already re-entered her mind.

"The window!" Jane blurted out. She ran to Shelby's room and opened the window. Shelby followed and stood waiting for the explanation. "I think my room is directly below yours, so I should be able to climb down and go in through the window" She hung out of the window and looked down and sure enough she could see her own bedroom window about seven feet below. Luckily for her, she had left it open. "It's open" she perched on the window sill ready to jump out when Shelby grabbed her arm.

"You'll break your leg if you jump from here." Her eyes showed concern but her face was its usual relaxed mask. Why couldn't she show she actually cared?

"I'm very resilient." And with that she leapt from the window. When she reached the ground she instinctively rolled to reduce the momentum. She stood up and looked back at the window but Shelby was nowhere to be seen.

"Shelby?" she yelled up. The answer came from behind her.

"Yes?" Shelby stood there in her coat.

"How'd you get down here?"

"The front door. While we couldn't enter your apartment through the door, we could exit mine that way." She gave a sarcastic smile and shoved past Jane to get to the window muttering 'idiot' as she did. They both climbed through the window and into Jane's bedroom.

It was painted a pastel shade of pink and blue and photos created collages on the walls. Everything was put away in drawers or remained still unpacked in cardboard boxes. It was all too neat for Shelby's liking. From there their found their way to the main bedroom where Sally had been sleeping. Jane wasn't allowed in her mum's room so she felt odd entering it now. The room was just as neat and also had things stuck on the walls, but these were not photos, they were sheets of paper all printed with official looking things. Jane remained in the doorway still getting over the fact that this is what her mum's room looked like. Shelby roamed around touching each paper and soaking in the information like a sponge. Within ten minutes, she had all she needed.

"From what I've read, your mother and uncle were working on bringing down some sort of organised crime society. They seemed to have discovered that the nearby industrial estate is their base of operations." She turned to Jane. "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, organised crime, industrial estate-"

"No, I meant in the other room..." Jane was knocked unconscious from behind and crumpled to the floor. Before she could run anywhere, Shelby was tackled by a large figure in black. She screamed out for her brother, for anyone really, but a white handkerchief was shoved in her mouth. Something on it made her pass out within seconds.

With that, the infamous duo was in trouble.


	3. Sisters Part Three

As usual, Shelby was the first one to wake up. They were alone in a large, damp room. It was dark, night probably had fallen. They could be anywhere really, but since there were metal structures against the wall, it was probably some kind of warehouse. They were probably in the base that Jane's mum had been looking at, which meant that they had probably been taken by the organised crime company she had been investigating...

_Wow, I am Sherlock!_

When Jane awoke Shelby was pacing around her, staring intently with her green eyes.

"Where are we?" Jane asked, as she reached up to rub her head, only to find her hand tied behind her back. "How'd you get out?"

"I didn't, I wasn't tied up." Shelby looked just as confused as Jane felt.

"Help me get out then!" Shelby tried to untie the rope and Jane wriggled her hand, trying to get loose, but neither attempt seemed to work. "As annoying as this is, I have to give props to the person who tied it" Shelby smiled at the joke, before collapsing onto the floor.

"I think I'm usually asleep by now," She rubbed her eyes and yawned "Oh, and to answer your first question, a warehouse in the Baskerville industrial estate." Jane just nodded.

"What do we do now?"

"We wait."

"For what?"

"For the safe word."

"What safe word?" Shelby looked at her with hard eyes.

"You know what safe word" She was scary the way she looked. She looked so angry that her routine had been changed, but excited at the danger of the situation. Most people who acted like this were psychopaths.

The girls were calmly discussing current politics when the minions came to collect them. They all had black ski masks on but underneath, they were all incredibly shocked at how at ease these two _teenage_ girls were compared to the other people they had kidnapped over the years. They had been ordered to bring to girls into the adjoining hall, but the blue haired one was to remain tied up. Their boss often gave strange orders like this, but they never argued. He was the best there was.

The girls calmly entered the new hall and were seated into two wooden chairs. In front of them were two other people in chairs, but they had bags over their head.

Shelby already knew who they were.

Above them was a kind of make-shift balcony. You could just make out some figures on it, but their faces were shaded from view.

"Ah, we finally found the soldier and the scientist" a voice welcomed them from the balcony. It was cold and sarcastic and was not at all familiar "Or, whatever your names are. Do you like my palace?"

"It would be nicer if we could see our host and the other guests." Shelby replied. Jane watched on, intrigued to see Shelby actually behaving like a normal human being.

"Aha, in time my little china doll." Shelby looked round at her surroundings once more.

"So what exactly will get me out of here quicker?"

"This." One of the henchmen walked forwards and handed Shelby a pistol. She looked down at it in her hands. It felt so cold, but yet so natural, like it was just an extension of her arm. The bags were then removed from the other's heads.

It was Jane's mother and Uncle.

"What? You want me to shoot them or something?"

"That's exactly what I want you to do"

"What!" Jane screamed up at the balcony. Her hands clenched and the ropes snapped open. She ran and snatched the pistol from Shelby's hand and shot up at the balcony with uncanny precision. Her mother started to cry.

"Ah, so you are the soldier! Well, I was starting to wonder. My sources told me the scientist was the mad one and the little china doll here was talking too much for a crazy girl."

The henchmen had wrestled the gun out of Jane's hand and she had been restrained, not that she didn't put up a fight. The gun once again found itself in Shelby's hand.

"Well go on then!" the voice taunted from above. Shelby looked at the two adults in front of her. Sally was crying, never taking her eyes off of her daughter, whereas Anderson had his stare locked on Shelby. They were both covered in cuts and grime.

"And why exactly should I shoot these two innocent people, other than for your enjoyment?" The longer she delayed, the more time her back-up had to get here.

"Oh, you mean you don't know?"

"Know what?" The voice laughed at her.

"Well this fun! I mean how far in the dark have you been? Do you even know what happened to your parents?" Shelby didn't reply. "Well do you?"

"They're away on a mission." She answered flatly. Anderson's gaze flickered.

_What's going on?_

"Oh, you are fragile, aren't you? Too fragile to even know the truth? Well, let me be the one to tell you: YOU'RE PARENTS WERE MURDERED YEARS AGO!" his laugh came through once more. "The best part is that it was your new friend's parents that killed them. The same parents I want you to kill!" Jane took that moment to finally speak up.

"Ha, don't know where you got your info, sir, but that man is not my father! He's married for crying out loud!" She was shouting. So emotional, even though she wasn't the one being told to commit murder.

"LIES!" the man shouted down at them. For a brief second, Shelby saw part of his face in the light, but it was gone before she could see any details. "How many lies have you two been fed? And here you are thinking I'm the bad guy! I'm the one that's telling you the truth! That man had an affair with your whore of a mother and the filthy product was you!" Jane looked down at Anderson, finally noticing the little things Shelby had noticed when they'd first met. The same jaw line, the same nose, it was all so clear now.

"So little china doll, it's time for you to avenge your parent's deaths. You kill both of them, or I'll kill them and you two as well. Either way is good, but the first will be all the more exciting!" She could hear the creak of the man sitting down on a chair similar to their own

Shelby had expected her back-up to be here by now. Did she take a risk and start the plan now and hope they came before those up above could stop them, or did she try and stall further. Honestly, this was the only thing keeping her mind off the new information she had just acquired.

She finally stood lifting the pistol and pointing it at Sally. Jane was shouting behind her.

"Jane for once in your life, be quiet!" Jane shut up; she stopped struggling as well. Shelby once again turned her attention to Sally. "Well, I never really knew you, but I thought you'd like to know something before we go our separate ways."

"And what's that?" Sally sobbed. The crunch of gravel outside gave Shelby her cue.

"Vatican Cameos!" the place went into chaos: A SWAT Team Invaded the warehouse: Jane used various martial arts moves to shake off the minions that were restraining her; Shelby began shooting up at the balcony, aiming at the shadowy figure that only she could make out. The man had disappeared off somewhere, but his security was easy targets and because she wasn't shooting to kill, she managed to injure some so they would be able to get away. It was only when she heard Sally's cry, that Shelby turned her attention back to the ground level. A minion had overpowered Jane and was currently strangling her. Shelby aimed the pistol and shot, but the man shifted meaning the bullet instead embedded itself in Jane's left calf. She cried out in pain and the man was taken out by a SWAT sniper.

Before they knew it, the battle was over, but not before Sally and Anderson had been killed by the voice's last remaining security.

Jane still has nightmares about that night to this very day.

Mycroft sat with Shelby while Jane gave a statement and once more refused therapy.

"How long have you known?" She asked so quietly he could hardly hear her over the police sirens. He looked down at her. She forever been his little sister, it had been his job to care for her for the last twelve years and if he didn't say the thing now, he could lose her in a heartbeat. But he owed her the truth.

"A month after they left." And with that a single tear slid down her face. He hadn't seen her cry since they'd left all those years ago and it broke his heart. "Do you remember when they left?"

"I remember everything, Mycroft. I notice everything; that is my curse." Her hand wiped her eyes clear.

"Then you remember how scared they were to leave. They knew they were in trouble and so they left so we wouldn't get hurt. They knew what was coming and they knew they deserved it." He was starting to cry now, that's what these memories did to him.

"What could they possibly have done to deserve it" She shouted at him. He wasn't taken aback by her sudden mood swing, but right now, she was allowed to be like this.

"We all do things we regret Shelby, and in the end we all have to pay for them. That was just their payment" He put a hand on her shoulder and he could feel her relax. He knew another outburst would be unlikely.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Let's just say they had some very big debts to some very dangerous people that they couldn't pay in an entire lifetime. The details are, and I'm truly sorry for pulling this card, classified information." Shelby looked up at her brother. The man that had raised her despite being so young at the time. Just out of school, a promising future, but he had to put all of that to one side because there was no one else left in the world that could love her.

Mycroft was scared when Shelby hugged him round his waist. She's never hugged him before, but he was never one to let an occasion slide, and so he hugged her back.

That was how Jane found them and the thoughts of how she didn't have any family left, none that she was close with anyway. Who would take her in? Who would be her family now?

Over Shelby's shoulder Mycroft noticed Jane standing there watching them. He broke apart the embrace and the two of them turned to face her.

"Just the girl I wanted to see!" He smiled. Jane returned the smile, but with a little less enthusiasm.

"Yeah, sorry, just had to do some official stuff."

"Well, I was talking to a friend of mine who handles social service stuff and I told him that I would take you in, that is if you wanted to! I mean you hardly know us, but well it felt rude not to ask and well-"

"I like to" and then it was Jane's turn to receive a Shelby hug.

_Huh! This is what it must be like to have a sister!_

The sun was rising by the time everyone was ready to move to the station, why they couldn't spare any time with Jane, they said that Shelby could go get some sleep and give her statement later. Mycroft had to go with Jane and since they really weren't that far away, she was allowed to walk back to the apartment.

It was quite warm in her blanket, which the paramedics had given her. She walked along the empty pavements thinking how it was that weird moment in the morning when you knew people were awake, but were still in the houses and were not really thinking about what it was like outside.

She took the quiet atmosphere to practice her ballet. Mycroft had never known about Mrs. Hudson giving her lessons; they would practice whenever Shelby decided she was bore, which was often. She knew the basic feet and arm positions and had a pretty decent turn-out, but the amazing thing was the ease at which she could leap and turn. It was at these moments that she felt weightless, like she could take off and fly. She stepped and twirled along the pavement in pirouettes, rising in arabesque and attitude and soaring into pas de chats. She managed to continue forward with her eyes closed, taking in to feeling that ballet gave her.

She didn't see the black car as she turned the corner.

As she passed, something grasped her by the waist and for the second time in twenty-four hours a white handkerchief was placed over her mouth and she once again passed out. She was lifted easily up and placed in the lap of the passenger. The driver returned to his position in the front.

The passenger looked down at Shelby. He brushed the hair out of her face and took in everything about it: the freckles; the paleness; the sharpness of all her feature. He looked down at her with his brilliant green eyes.

"No disrespect or anything Boss, but why's this girl so important?" The driver asked. The passenger didn't look up at the driver.

"She's a debt that was never paid to me. A debt I waited seventeen years for." He lifted her slender form gently so only her head remained cradled in her lap. His hand began stroking her dark hair, like he was comforting a child.

"You want me to take you to the mansion?"

"No," He looked down at the girl, thinking about how he only had to wait a few more months before this debt could be paid "Take us to 221 Banker Street. My little china doll needs to sleep."

Shelby awoke a few hours later in her bed with no memory of how she'd got there, but the emptiness she had felt at finding out her parents were dead, was gone.

_I guess that's what brothers and sisters are for._

At this point, the future was unclear for the girls. After the Christmas holidays, Jane was due to start at the local comprehensive school. She'd decided that it would be good to meet other people and finally have the opportunity to lay some roots before she started University the following year.

Shelby continued with her lessons with Mrs. Hudson. While there was a little awkwardness between her and Mycroft, after a while they once again fell into their usual ways.

Everything was going so well, but one thing kept bugging Shelby.

What had the man meant when he called them the soldier and the scientist?


	4. Secrets Part 1

The summer holidays had rolled around quickly for Jane. Admittedly she had completely immersed herself in her schoolwork. She was quite behind everyone else, what with not really having steady education for the last two years, but Shelby (her sort of sister), who was currently studying for a degree in forensic science with her tutor Mrs. Hudson, was a great help. They would often spend their weekends in the local library completing assignments and revising for upcoming exams. They also spent their time there talking to Molly and the library worker, Jim, which Jane had met a few weeks after she moved in with Shelby. He was very enthusiastic to hear about what they were up to. He worked sporadically, disappearing for weeks at a time, something about a great aunt that was very ill. Shelby was always very quiet around him though, refusing to speak to him unless absolutely necessary and often picking up a nearby book whenever he tried to strike up a conversation. He never stopped trying though, which is something Jane admired and they would end up talking about various celebrity gossip, which is something she couldn't really do with Shelby.

In between all the schoolwork and trips to the library, Jane had also taken up boxing in order to vent some of the anger that had been building up in her. It gave her leg a good workout so that her limp was less pronounced now and it gave her time to think about her life. She had always wanted to go into medicine, but now, she wasn't as sure. She would get the feeling that she destined for something else, but she could never work out what. She needed to decide soon as she would have to start looking at Universities soon. While she enjoyed her new family, she never truly felt right there. She felt like an add-on.

Shelby on the other hand was simply getting on with life. She would act like nothing had happened that night. The night she had learnt about her parents' deaths and when Jane's parents had been killed. Jane and Mycroft would try and get her to open up, now and then, but it would never work, she would change the subject or sulk off to her room and play her cello.

Jane was in the final week of her A2 exams and Shelby was finishing her last paper late one night, when the first message came. Jane rarely got asks on her Tumblr and so when she logged on that night, she was shocked to see the little red speech bubble.

"Hey Shelby, I got an ask!" She called through the apartment. She heard the tiny patter of footsteps as Shelby raced through the corridors before she screeched into Jane's room and fell onto the bed beside her.

"You got an ask?" She asked breathlessly. Jane couldn't help but laugh whenever Shelby started acting like an over-excited puppy.

"Yeah, I though you'd like to read it with me?"

"Yes, yes, yes, open it, open it, open it" Jane clicked on the tiny icon and the ask popped up:

_Would Shelby and Jane like to play a game? - m-is-for-morriarty_

They both stared at it for a while.

"Well that's creepy" Was all Jane could say. She was about to click back onto her dashboard when Shelby's hand stopped her.

"Wait one moment..."

"What?"

"Have you actually mentioned my name on here?" Jane thought back and it was true. She hadn't done any personal text post recently, in fact ever. So how on earth did this person know that Jane knew a girl called Shelby?

So, she decided to check him out. His blog was bare. Default theme, default picture, absolutely no personalisation, but there were posts. Two in fact, one was a question, with the space to answer underneath, and the other was a picture.

_Can you find your little bookworm before she goes boom? 12 Hours._

Underneath was a picture of Molly, from the library, tied up with a dynamite vest on.

The girls had just started in Morriarty's great game.

Mycroft refused to believe the girls had been targeted and blackmailed, so when they showed him the messages, he managed to spit an excessive amount of tea all over the kitchen.

"Girls, I don't want you two trying to solve this thing" He warned them as he picked up his jacket and started to dial a number onto his phone. Jane was very scared by all this. Her parents had done some dangerous things but it wasn't until she met two that she ever got mixed up in them. Shelby looked positively bored by all of this. "I mean it, if I hear you've so much as left this apartment; I will cut your book supply Shelby"

"Why are you not threatening Jane?"

"Because if Jane goes against my word, I know she won't do something stupid."

"You'd be surprised..." and with that Mycroft disappeared through the front door. Shelby headed in the opposite direction.

"Where are you going?" Jane asked getting very about this family.

"To the library." She said as she opened up her bedroom window and perched on the window sill. "Can you pass me my coat?"

"Sure." Jane passed Shelby her trench coat and she shrugged it on and with that, she fell through the window, coat tails fluttering behind her. She performed the same roll Jane had done months before. Jane was following closely behind, like she always would.

The library was closed like it was every Sunday, but the lights were always on as Molly would come in to do admin. Sometimes she'd let the girls come in and read, she was very fond of Shelby and would do anything to keep her entertained. Today though, the interior was dark and the secret side door was locked.

"We need to get in there." Shelby moaned as she pulled on the door handle.

"And why do you need to get in?"

"Because they had to have taken her from here, so any clues as to who took her or where they are now will be here." She started to walk away, heading towards to gravel car park around the back of the building. Jane had to admit she was right, Molly practically lived here and she lived in a tiny apartment which you could access both from the back and from inside the library. Shelby emerged once again. "You'd better look at this."

In the car park stood Molly's car, driver door open and her keys were still in the back door. Something had definitely gone down here and it wasn't Molly's usual bad driving.

"What do you think happened?" Jane regretted the question as soon as it exited her mouth. Shelby went into Sherlock mode.

"Judging from the keys in the door, the open car door and the bag for life in the passenger, she had been shopping and was returning home. The car wasn't waiting for her here but might have been waiting for her around the corner and then drove round once they saw her go past. She never opened the door, so it was fast, planned. The gravel by the door is dug up, so she struggled-"

"Good for Molly!" Jane muttered. Shelby shot her a deadly look. "Sorry, continue"

"There's also blood on the door, so they must have knocked her out by hitting her head on it and then dragged her over to their car and drove off." She remained quiet, her eyes still whipping around, trying to look for something else.

"Have you done, or should I leave you and the crime scene alone?" Jane really wanted to leave; she didn't like what had happened here or what would happen to them if the police came. Shelby kept pacing and looking around.

"I'm missing something, I know I am!" She pulled the keys from the door and started to look at them, still muttering to herself. "Sherlock would have this place sussed by now. He'd know everything in one glance." Shelby had never been one that could actually speak quietly.

"Look here," Jane snapped, causing Shelby to jump and drop the keys. Jane walked up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders. "You are not Sherlock Holmes, you understand me?" Shelby remained wide-eyed and silent. "He has spent years of accumulating knowledge; you've been alive for seventeen. You will not be as good as him, not yet." They stared into each other's eyes for a moment before Jane shook Shelby's shoulders. "You understand me?" Shelby threw Jane's hands off her shoulders.

"Of course I know that! I'm not an idiot! That doesn't mean I can't have a goal." She picked up the keys. "Why are you so concerned-" But she stopped and looked down to the keys in her hand, something had dawned on her. "DAMN IT! Why didn't I see that?"

"See what?"

"Right imagine, you're about to open your door, keys in ready, and then a car comes around the corner and someone you've never seen before walks out, what would you do?"

"Um, fight, scream, hide my keys- oh!" She'd got it.

"If it was someone you knew however, you wouldn't be concerned about them breaking in now would you?"

"So whoever took her, she knew them!" Jane exclaimed. Shelby smiled proudly.

"And since you can count Molly's friends on one hand, we have a list of suspects to make!" And with that Shelby ran off back to the main street. Jane hurried after her, her leg not aching as she put her weight on it.

They sat on a bench in a nearby park, staring down at Shelby's notepad. There were five names but two had been crossed out.

_Shelby_

_Jane_

_Mycroft_

_Jim_

_Lestrade_

_The old librarian_

"You were right; she really doesn't have that many friends!" Jane stated as she stared at the list.

She was surprised when Shelby had written down Lestrade, but then remembered that her mother said that he was the face of the local police force. That was his division.

"I think it's time to do some deduction don't you think?" Shelby once again clicked her pen and began scribbling notes beside the names she had written down. They were mainly things she had noticed about the people. Some things were obvious, like the 'secretive' she wrote next to Mycroft's name. Others made Jane pause for a moment before she remembered she will have known these people much longer than she had. After five minutes, Shelby stopped scribbling and handed the pad to Jane to look over.

The ones that weren't really names didn't have much next to them, the other ones were more interesting.

Next to Mycroft's name were mainly insults: Overweight; lazy; mummy's boy.

Lestrade: in the public eye; detailed knowledge of criminal hideouts; access to gun

However, the most unusual thing was written next to Jim's name, for all Shelby had wrote was _DON'T TRUST HIM_

"So do you think Jim did it? I mean it's the most likely, we probably know the least about him. You apart from the ones we never met."

"Don't jump to conclusions, Watson!" Shelby snapped.

"That's what Sherlockian deduction is all about and don't call me Watson! I don't like it!" Shelby returned this with a 'really?' look she could have only learned from Tumblr. Jane sighed, knowing from that single look that she would lose this argument, and frankly they didn't have the time. She gestured for her to continue.

"I don't trust Jim because it's like he's scared I know too much about him."

"But you never talk to the guy, how could you know anything about him?"

"I may have only heard about Sherlock when you came along, but I still noticed things that he would notice. I already knew the value of dirt." She took the notepad from Jane and turned the page as she began to explain. "Dirt is very handy for knowing where a person has been recently and what they were doing, which ultimately can almost certainly tell you where they work."

"But he works at the library."

"Yeah, but he disappears for weeks at a time, what does he do then?"

"Well if you actually talked to him, you'd know he has a great aunt that's very ill!"

"Yes, I know that, you talk loud enough in that library for the whole of Baskerville to hear you! And that's the thing that bothers me. A librarians wage isn't that good, a _part-time_ librarian would have an even worse wage, yet he can afford to travel regularly without a car-"

"How do you know he doesn't have a car?"

"I know the owner of every car that's ever passed through that car park. He doesn't have a car. Please don't interrupt me." Jane mimed zipping her lips. "Yes well, how can he afford to travel so frequently on that wage? And also how can he afford to have new _designer _clothes every week too?"

"He wears a white shirt and black trousers. He probably just washes them a lot and wears them every day!" Shelby shot her a look, but answered her anyway.

"I know the difference between washed frequently and brand new. How do you think Mycroft knows when it's time to get a new suit? He's not overly obsessed with his looks."

"So he has some money that we don't know about! Why should we be suspicious?"

"You seem defensive. Have I said something offensive towards him?" Shelby looked concerned, like she was scared that Jane would be angry at her.

"No, it's just, he's kind of my friend, I mean if people were telling you not to trust me or your brother, what would you do?"

"I wouldn't believe them!" She replied, shocked that anyone would call them untrustworthy. Jane smiled, despite knowing things most adults didn't know; Shelby had the attitude of a very confused and impressionable toddler.

"Wait a minute!" Jane said suddenly. Shelby looked up at her. "Why are we focusing on who did it? We should be focusing on where she is now."

"I know, but there were no signs of where they went, I mean they'd come from some kind of industrial estate but-"

"Wait how'd you know that?"

"There was concrete dust in all the tracks." She stood up too so she could look at Jane better. "Couldn't you see that?"

"Of course not, who can spot grey dust on grey gravel!" She scoffed, it was only when she spotted Shelby's head droop did she realise she'd said something wrong. "I mean, no normal person could!" Jane pulled Shelby into a hug.

"I'm not normal?"

"You're special."

"Special is another word for freak."

"No, special is another word for extraordinary." She could feel Shelby smile into her shoulder. They stood for a moment, remembering what it was like to feel accepted, to feel part of something. A passing boy, however, had different plans.

"Oi! Lesbos! Get out of this park; we don't want your kind here." Jane twisted out of the hug and marched over to the boy. She stuck up her middle finger in his face and hissed

"GO FUCK YOURSELF!" The boy replied by spitting in her face. She responded with a square punch in the face, knocking him out cold. Shelby walked up beside her.

"That was extreme. You're e not a... you know. Which is totally fine!"

"Yes I know it is and I'm not gay. I'm just a firm believer in equality for all." They walked back to their bench, leaving the boy on the floor.

"So what do we do now?" Jane asked as she picked the notebook, noticing that Shelby hadn't written anything when she had explained the whole dirt thing. In fact she'd gotten completely side-tracked.

"We could call an ambulance..."

"No I meant about Molly. He'll be fine." She waved at the still body of the boy. Shelby thought for a while.

"Do you think we can trust Lestrade?" Jane had no idea why Shelby was asking her but; it was Shelby, so...

"I think we can. I mean he's practically a local celebrity, someone would notice him kidnapping Molly, you'd think" Shelby nodded in agreement.

"In which case, we need to talk to him." She stood up once again and Jane followed suit.

"Shelby we can't just waltz into the police station and demand to see their poster boy."

"No you're right but... give me your phone!" She demanded holding out her hand. Jane did as she was told, but still felt to need to complain.

"I don't see why you can't just use your own." Shelby ignored her and began to type in a number. "And what exactly is you plan of action?" Jane asked before she could press dial.

"Molly never shuts up about me. Whenever I see him, he always asks me if I ever thought of becoming a detective. So, I plan to use that to get in." She hit dial and pressed the mobile to her ear, waiting patiently for someone to answer.

"Hi, yes, can I talk to Officer Lestrade? Hmm, yes, tell him it's Shelby." There was a pause as she was put through. "Hello sir, I'm calling to see if it would be possible to talk to you about what it's like to work for the police force. Yes, I am considering joining." She rolled her eyes and Jane had to stifle a giggle. "So, when can I come in? What? Now? Well I guess I could... would you mind if I bring my friend around, she's not allowed to be alone. Oh, don't worry, it's only because she has a habit of sneaking out to meet with her no good boyfriend. Okay, thank you, I'll see you in a moment. Bye!" she hung up and handed back the phone.

"Why'd you have to tell him that?"

"Oh, I know he would find it hard to believe I actually had a friend who actually wanted to be with me, so, just pretend you're dating that boy." She gestured to the still unconscious boy behind them.

"That's not funny." At that, the boy started to stir and raised his head. "Quick, run!" and they ran off laughing, despite the fact that Molly's life currently rested in their hands.


End file.
